From Afghanistan
My Journey
For those who don’t know me, my name is Captain Ian A. Cairns. I am a New Jersey Army National Guardsman through and true. I have 12 years enlisted as a Military Intelligence Analyst and then became an Infantry Officer which I have been for the past five years. Some of my specialties are Ranger, Airborne and Pathfinder qualified. I have deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, (GTMO) and assisted in New Orleans for Katrina. Currently I am deployed to Afghanistan for the next year. I am planning to deploy to Iraq immediately after Afghanistan to assist the more than 3,000 N.J. Army Guard members who are deploying there during 2008. I am married with four children.
Why the National Guard and not regular Army? Well, I joined for my father. He was not born in the United States, but when he came from Scotland he said if this was the country he was going to live in then he was going to do something for the country as all citizens should do. He said you don’t make a true investment in the country until you serve it in the military or as a volunteer; that you must give the country a part of you so when others try to take your way of life, you fight to keep it.
Today’s Army has a new philosophy – we are no longer National Guard, Reserve or Regular Army - we are just the United States Army. It is on our military identification cards and soldiers are starting to realize – all branches are deploying just as much as the next. The only difference is a Guardsman or Reservist has another job which allows him or her to bring another specialty to the military.
I am the type “A” personality which means that if you give me a job I will find a way to do it. I salute the flag and get chills every time down my back as my heart swells with pride. I challenge myself everyday and don’t accept defeat. The military, especially the National Guard has done nothing but give: it gave me my education, it gave me a job, it gave me discipline and respect, but most important it gave me my investment in this country.
I am part of a 16-man team from New Jersey headed to Afghanistan to assist and mentor the Afghan Army, Police and Border Patrol. We are comprised of teachers, lawyers, police, stock brokers, etc. What we all have in common is that we volunteered. We have been together under Lt. Col. Langston for close to a year pre-deployment. This is extremely rare since the rest of the Embedded Training Teams from across the United Stated met down in Fort Riley, Kansas just prior to leaving for Afghanistan.
As we stand in the line waiting for the buses to pick us up, a Colonel comes and gives us our goodbye speech. No General, no Senator not even a public figure, just a war veteran. Unlike when I left for GTMO when we received numerous speeches by Generals, elected officials, members from the government and received a police escort to the arena and to the airport. Not this time. The Colonel just tells us that we are the unsung heroes and for us to remember why we are here. He isn’t about false hopes, false motivation or lies, just the truth. So softly into the night we load the buses to take us to the airfield trying not to wake anyone up. It is as if we were sneaking out of the base, only a faint memory on the live active post. When we arrive at the airport it is deserted and we hold our heads high with the silent words of “you know why you’re here” playing over in our heads. We are loading the plane and a single soldier is standing alone by the platform holding the American Flag and everyone takes a moment of silence as we pass. One last chill runs down my spine on American soil. It is quiet as we load into the plane; all I can think of is my family and the way of life I am leaving behind.
We fly into Shannon, Ireland and we stretch our legs. While I am in the duty-free shop a young woman in college turns and asks where I am headed. I am excited to be in Ireland, but more excited that I am actually talking to an Irish woman. So I tell her we are headed out on a military mission and ask her where she is headed and she says she is going home for the holidays. “Oh really,” I say, “Where in Ireland do you live?” She responds that she is from Austin, Texas. Not to be discouraged in my quest to meet a local, I ask the cashier where she is from and to my dismay she is from Germany. My spirit is subdued as I walk out the store and my recall to the plane is announced and I haven’t met anyone from Ireland.
On to Hungary, then down to Kuwait – I can’t believe we have been on a plane for 16 hours. I have a new-found respect for the pilots and flight attendants out there. The hours of flight become a new form of torture, now realizing I have to take the same flight home. As we get into Kuwait at 3 a.m., the place is half-staffed and we are trying not to wake most people since we are only here for a day or two. Yet after being asleep on the plane for 10 or more hours, I decide to see what the camp had to offer. As I walk around I look up and see an amazing sight, the golden arches. McDonalds is here and for a moment I imagine I am back in the states. It’s open twenty-four hours a day so I buy a cheeseburger and french-fries. Funny thing is I hate McDonalds. Back at home I never go to McDonalds but for some reason I’m thinking this might be the last American thing I see or can hold onto. As I contemplate this, I look at the menu since I ordered from memory and notice only a few words are in English, the rest are in three different languages. Well, I close my eyes and it is McDonald’s all the same.
As we depart the Logistical Staging Area, Camp Ali Al Salem, we board our final plane destined for Afghanistan Camp Phoenix. The lines are long and the group from New Jersey looks up at the C-17 (the size of a Boeing jet without any interior) and see painted on the side “The Pride of New Jersey.” They were from McGuire Air Force Base doing a short tour, flying combat missions out of Kuwait. We hold our heads high as we load the plane, some wishing we were going home, since the plane already knows the way.
We arrive at Camp Phoenix’s airport coming in way too fast for anyone’s liking. We hear this is just a precaution in case they fire surface to air missiles at the plane. All I can think of is that this is not a calming statement. It puts the majority of us into the mind set that this is a war-ridden country and we have just crossed the line of no return. For the rest of the group the reality comes when we pass a burning C-130 to the side of the flight line on our way to a staging area. The burning smell and sight stamps “Be alert, be alive,” on our minds from that night on. When we arrive in Camp Phoenix, I think we are just driving though a slum area made of misshaped buildings and shacks. No, this is the “good” camp to be in. Not to be let down, our rooms for the next few days are con-ex’s (the metal boxes pulled by semi’s) with bunks in them.
This morning walking to process in (the paperwork needed to let the Army know I am where I am supposed to be), it is snowing hard with large white flakes. I take a moment and think to myself that my kids would love this weather - especially so close to Christmas. I tilt my head back and feel the snow brush my face as I reminisce about earlier childhood years. But as all good things come to an end, my morning class is on health and hygiene - the typical “wash your hands and don’t drink the water” but the most interesting is the air. The air is a little hard to breathe - not because we are 6,000 feet above sea level but because the Afghans burn their trash at all times of the day, more at night. Among the trash is 20 percent sewage. So the smell is like a constant camp fire with a hint of Port Newark/Elizabeth Sea Port. So the Air Force doc says the beautiful white snow is heavily laced with trash and sewage. Bah humbug to you too Mr. Scrooge.
Make no mistake; we are here for the United States’ self interests. Remember that 9/11 was planned here in Afghanistan, there are still terrorists who are here who wish us all dead. The threat is real and it is my job to help the people of Afghanistan to help themselves. The idea is that they will fight against the terrorists in their country so in the future we will not have to.
Partner
